The Disciplines Of War
by Ramica
Summary: What does a highly trained horse and the most disciplined of the Ninja Turtles have in common? Leo is about to find out when he meets Ninja.Complete!
1. Default Chapter

                     The Disciplines Of War

Disclaimer: I deny any ownership of any adolescent transformed shadow warrior chelonians.

Author's Note: For this story I combine two loves or interest if you will. Actually three.

Ninja turtles Horses and Dressage. I once owned a dressage horse she was trained to medium class two. She was also a bit of a brat but I loved her nonetheless. As for dressage it is a beautiful and ancient art form that brings rider and horse closer together and is one of my favorite sports. Hope you enjoy.

Rated- G

Part One

The boys had decided that it was time for a little R & R they had been fighting the Foot on almost a daily basis for over two months and some of the battles had been quite strenuous.  Now that there was a lull in the constant battles the boys dearly wanted to take advantage of it by heading up to the farm in Northampton.

The farm offered them freedom that they could not normally achieve in New York they could relax and roam around in broad daylight far from prying eyes and be able to just relax and unwind.

Leo strolled out onto the patio deck they had arrived earlier that day and had spent some time cleaning up and Mike had cooked a large meal for dinner leaving Leo feeling uncommonly stuffed.

Leo took a couple of deep breaths as he looked out at the wide meadows and the forest not far from the house. The brilliant shades of green mixing and mingling under a late August sun there was just a hint of coolness in the air that warned of fall and winter months ahead.

Leo gave a reflective contented sigh before deciding to go out for a run along some of the forest trails he could enjoy the scenery and the exercise would help him digest his meal he wondered if he ought to get his brother's to join him then decided that it would be more of a hassle then it was worth.

Leo made good time to the lake which he knew was about four miles out from the farm he could smell the fragrant smell of the trees and the woods the sun dipping in the sky sent golden shimmers across the lake water.

Leo wasn't quite ready to head back just yet but he knew the odds of people being around the lake were pretty good and he didn't want to risk the chance of being seen but he knew that there was another trail that lead away from the lake that would probably be safer.

Leo knew it was a horse trail but he figured few horses and riders would be out and the few that might be venturing on the trails at this time of day he would probably hear long before the horse or rider could catch sight of him.

He kept to the trail until he noticed a break in the trees and judging from the amount of light up ahead Leo figured he was nearing a meadow so he slowed down to take stock of the situation before advancing.

He stuck cautiously to the shadows of the trees as he glanced out at the meadow he could see a series of jumps set up in the meadow varying in height and style. He knew next to nothing about jumps for horses but just looking at the height of some of the jumps made him guess that they could be used by anyone the shorter jumps for beginners and the higher ones for more advanced riders.

A movement lower down in the meadow caught his eyes curiously Leo moved down to get a closer look he stuck to the shadows as he had been trained not wishing to reveal himself.

As he neared the spot he saw a single black horse and a rider, Leo crouched down in the shadows of the trees keeping a bit of a distance wanting to observe without being seen.

The rider was clearly female and she sat tall and poised in the saddle she hardly even looked like she was breathing. The horse on the other hand had its head slightly bent in towards his chest, it's muscled neck arched, its nostrils were large and there was foam in its mouth. It had powerful muscles in the back end. The horse was performing a series of intricate patterns at different paces circles, turns, figure eights and more.

Leo pondered over this for it seemed to him that the horse was doing all of this simply because it suited him for he saw no sign of the rider doing any thing.

He did see that she carried a whip in one hand though she wasn't using it in any way.

The horse snorted slightly, blowing out sharply before starting to move sideways and diagonally across the meadow. Then the horse started to move faster with first one front leg then the other striking out in front of him making it look like he was skipping along.

Something about all these movements made Leo think of a dance only the horse seemed to dance to music only he was capable of hearing.

The horse stopped but seemed to keep the momentum as his front legs pivoted around his hind legs, which stayed almost in one place. Then the horse seemed to prance in one spot each hoof rising and falling but not moving so much as one step forward.

The horse suddenly went up on hind legs and for the first time Leo saw the girl give a negative shake of her head.

" Come on Ninja you can do it in hand boy. Let's try it again." Her tone was gentle and firm as she stroked the slightly sweated neck of her mount.

Leo was intrigued because he never knew that horses were capable of doing such maneuvers and he felt that it must take awhile to train a horse to do those things. It was also clear to him that the horse was in deed being guided by its rider but he still hadn't seen how it was being done.

His mind raced with questions why would anyone bother to train a horse to do these things? What was it used for? It had to be used for some thing after all.

He watched with interest as the horse again pranced then rose on hind legs this time he kept his body lower and closer to the ground not stretching up as high as he had the first time. The horse held the position for only a second or two before dropping to all fours and his rider approved.

" Good boy Ninja" She swung effortlessly out of the saddle in a single fluid move and hugged the horse.

She removed the saddle setting it down in the grass and picked up a halter and lead rope she removed the bridle keeping the reins around the horse's neck before placing the halter over his nose.

" Go ahead and graze boy you have earned it."

 The horse snorted pawing the ground with one hoof before dropping slowly and rolling it stood up and shook himself off before starting to crop the grass.

Something rustled in the grass near him and the horse squealed jerking back and almost leaping to one side tossing its head.

" Whoa boy steady." Her voice was soft low reassuring.

The horse however wasn't eased by it reared up suddenly towering over his rider jerking his head sharply back pulling the rope from her hand. He whirled about on hind legs and leaped forward kicking out suddenly with one hind leg as he took off.

The girl remained calm but there was a worried tone to her voice as she called out " Ninja Come on, steady boy" she whistled once but the panicked horse paid no attention to her as he stretched out leaping over a jump and tearing off into the forest.

He makes a lot of noise for a ninja Leo thought ruefully before going off to see if he could catch up to the panicked animal.

 It was easy enough for Leo to trail the frightened animal and with the horse crashing through the bush it was quite easy to keep track of the animals path. Going on this information Leo moved onto a path to intercept the horse.

Leo waited to one side waiting for the horse to come near as the horse got close Leo stepped out in front of it " Whoa boy."

The horse snorted and lunged to dive around Leo but Leo moved with quick speed and managed to grab the rope "Settle down now. There is a good boy easy fella no one is going to hurt you."

The horse tried pulling free but Leo's strength was up to the horse's wild frantic antics and the horse finally came to a stop his sides heaving with exertion, giving short sharp blast of air through it's nostrils and it's eyes rolled back showing the whites.

" Ninja" Leo whispered and saw an ear twitch in response, " Calm down Ninja. Easy big boy." Keeping his voice low and calm Leo worked his way slowly hand over hand up the lead rope until he could grasp the halter. He reached up stroking the neck feeling the soft hairs under his rough palm.

Leo considered what little he knew about horses and decided it would be of no help to him with the runaway. 

Still if he could manage to keep the horse calm it would probably be easier to return him at least part way to his owner. Something had obviously spooked the horse and Leo wasn't too sure how the animal would react to him but Leo was used to handling strange situations and maintaining control it shouldn't be all that difficult.

As an afterthought Leo recalled the apple he had in one of his belt pouches and fished it out with one hand. 

" Want this Ninja?" he offered the treat on an open palm.

The horse sniffed the offering before lipping it up with a soft velveteen muzzle the horse crunched the apple and bits of slobber dropped from the horse's mouth to Leo's hand.

" Yuck!" Leo muttered as he reached up to stroke the fine hairs of the horse's mane it felt silky soft under his fingers.

" I don't know a darn thing about horses so I'll just lead you back if you don't mind."

Leo figured the horse wouldn't understand him but like most animals it ought to respond to tone of voice to some extent.

Twighlight was starting to fall as Leo started to lead the horse back he could hear crickets and frogs singing nearby.

" Ninja!" the call was still far enough away that Leo didn't have to worry just yet.

He considered just letting the horse go when he saw the animal pull forward and move quicker at the summons from his owner. If turned lose he would probably go right to her. Then again he might spook at some other thing along the way either real or imagined and his rider might need her mount to get home.

" How am I suppose to return you without being seen?" Leo questioned the horse suddenly realizing the quandary he had got himself into.

Ninja's only response was to raise his head and give a loud bugling neigh, which shook his whole body.

" Some Ninja you are!" Leo retorted gruffly.

The horse half reared pulling sharply on the rope.

" Oh no you don't. Settle NOW!" Leo ordered in his firm authoritive way.

Ninja struck out quickly with one fore hoof he moved so fast Leo didn't have time to react and the hoof came down hard right on his left foot.

" Ow you brute!" Leo hissed cursing under his breath.

Man that hurt he could consider himself lucky if the horse hadn't broken any bones with that blow alone.

The horse was suddenly quiet he blew out softly and gently lipped along the length of Leo's arm with his soft lips standing quietly his ears perked up and his tail swishing away flies.

" I think I'll just tie you up here. She should find you with out any trouble she is getting a lot closer now."

" Ninja" A whistle sounded only a few feet away.

The horse lunged catching Leo by surprise and yanked the turtle after him as he plunged towards the direction of his mistress.

Leo almost had to run at first to keep up with the horse he wasn't about to let it go charging through the bush again on its own and Leo was determined to not let the rope go except on his terms but at the moment it was drop the rope, run to keep up, or fall under the hooves.

Leo was starting to wonder why he had even bothered to get messed up with this black nag of an animal and where it was leading him to besides trouble.

TBC


	2. Part Two

                          Disciplines Of War

Disclaimer: I deny any ownership of any adolescent transformed shadow warrior chelonians.

Part Two:

Leo worked his hands further up the lead rope until he could grasp the halter he then dug in his feet stopping quickly and pulling the horse's head towards him as he did so.

" Cut it out and behave yourself," Leo demanded of the horse.

 The horse gave him a startled look snorting quickly.

" Ninjinsky there you are" the voice of his owner was just on the other side of the horse " thanks for catching him for me."

Leo feverently hoped that he could keep the horse between him and her until he could get a chance to disappear into the woods. Luckily the night closing in fast provided him with sufficient shadows to keep him hidden he ought to be able to manage this without revealing himself the trick was to play it calm and act fast when the time came.

" It was no problem only I now know why I don't normally have any thing to do with horses" Leo replied.

" I thought for sure Ninja would be more then half way home by this time. Hey Ninja you okay boy?"

" Oh he's fine. He stomped me though" Leo grouched.

 " Sorry about that I appreciate you catching him. I don't know what his problem is he has seen rabbits before after all he was just being stupid. Usually he gets the stupidity out before his work out not after." Her voice was calm and sweet " ninja didn't hurt you did he?"

" I'll be all right I have survived worse. Here is his rope" Leo passed the rope under the shadows of the horse's neck to hopefully hide his three fingered hands, " I got to be going back home now."

" Do you want a ride? Ninja and I could give you a lift if you like it is the least I can do for you after you catching him for me."

" No thanks I prefer to walk" Leo demurred that is if I can walk he thought to himself because his foot was already quite painful and he was starting to limp quite badly.

" Are you sure?"

Leo smiled " I appreciate the offer but I'll be fine. I think I've had more then enough of horses for one night. I have to admit I'm not really an animal person," Leo admitted easily.

" Okay then. By the way I'm Jessica what is your name?"

" Leonardo but I usually go by Leo and I best be going now Jessica it was nice meeting you" Leo stated before turning to head into the woods.

Ninja suddenly backed up a step or two so his chest was close to Leo then turned his neck resting his head along one side of Leo then Ninja gave a bit of a shove with his head using the powerful neck muscles to push Leo out in front of him.

Leo knew even in the fading light there was no possible way that Jessica wouldn't see him now. Leo decided that he REALLY did hate horses especially black horses named Ninja who had no code of honor for a real ninja.  
Leo glanced back towards Jessica with concern wondering how she would react to him. Jessica was slightly taller then him about five four in height and one hand with long slender fingers was raised up near her mouth, her large blue grey eyes were large with fright and she looked like she might be ready to scream at any moment.

" Jessica don't worry I'm not going to hurt you honest. Besides you scream and you might chase your friend there off again and I don't intend to chase after him twice tonight. I know I look different but I really don't mean you any harm. I'll be going now."

Jessica took a deep breath and started to stammer " Wh.. what are YOU?"

 " I'm a mutated pet shop turtle. My name is Leonardo. At one time I was no different then any pet shop turtle but I came into contact with this strange liquid, which had mutagenetic properties. It caused me to grow into something more human like in physical shape and intelligence. I didn't intend to reveal myself to you as I happen to know many humans would take my existence the wrong way." Leo purposely omitted the fact that he had three brothers for the moment, as he wasn't sure how safe Jessica was.

Ninja nickered and lipped at Leo's arm.

" Cut it out horse. You've all ready got me into enough trouble for one day" Leo scolded the animal.

Jessica gave a hesitant unsteady grin " He likes you."

" The feelings are not mutual I assure you" Leo grouched.

" Horses can be pretty good judges of character and you did help me out. I guess you can't be all that bad Leo it's just I wasn't expecting some one like well… You I guess. You are just so different."  
Leo breathed a low sigh of relief it sounded like she was going to consider accepting him at least, which was far better then panicking or running off in fear to cause a panic among the citizens of rural Northampton.

Leo was also momentarily grateful that his brothers weren't around to see this they would NEVER let him live it down, especially Raph. Though Mike wouldn't be much better he'd probably want to blackmail Leo with the information somehow. After all he was suppose to be the responsible one of the group.

So far in the shadows of the trees he doubted that Jessica had seen his katanas so he felt to be on the safe side he best warn her before she spotted them and felt threatened by the fact he carried weapons on him.  
 " Jessica there is something you better know I don't want you being taken by surprise.."

 " Like you're not a surprise Leo?" She interjected a bit sharply as if she wanted to accuse him for hiding his looks from her.

  " Well more of a surprise then that I suppose. You see a Master of that discipline trained me in martial arts; he found me and raised me. He decided that because I was different that I should learn to defend myself against those people who might try to hurt me in some way. I carry two swords on me and I only use them when I absolutely have to and when I do use them I do my best not to kill unless I have no other option left to me." Leo explained.

By now they had returned to the meadow and Jessica was leading Ninja towards where she had left his tack.

" So uh, what aspect of martial arts were you trained in Leo?" she asked curiously.

 " In Ninjitsu since I was about four years old."

She stopped what she was doing and stared hard at him in the fading light " funny I thought ninjitsu was something they made up for movies." Jessica scoffed.

" Well real ninja actually do exist but they don't exactly act in the way movies portray them to be. You watch ninja movies?" Leo queried.

" Not really. My younger pesky pain in the neck brothers do. They like all kinds of war movies and karate style movies any thing with explosions, or fighting of some type is a good movie to them.

You are limping pretty bad Leo are you sure you don't want a lift home even part of the way?"

 Leo considered it would save him hobbling back he just had to see to it his brothers didn't catch sight of him " I guess so just as long as your fool horse doesn't take offense to me being on his back. What were you doing with him out here?"

" It is a form of riding that goes back centuries it is known as dressage or sometimes the haute ecole meaning high schooled. A long time ago it was used by horseman in the Army as war maneuvers but today dressage is just an art form that is beautiful to watch."

" So what does dressage do?"

 " Well it is said that dressage can extend a horse's life span because it helps keep them supple and healthy. I don't know if it is true about adding years on but my instructor owned a twenty five year old Arab that could beat her grand daughter up from the pasture every day.

Dressage can benefit almost any thing you might want to do with your horse. Dressage is based on all natural movements. Everything that is done in dressage the horse can do naturally on his own."

" Don't horses do things that come natural anyways? I mean they run, they jump about the only thing they might not do naturally is pull a cart or something right?" Leo asked curious.

" People often expect horses to live or act in an unnatural fashion. A lot of horses under normal natural circumstances may not jump over a high obstacle on their own or take horse racing" Jessica was running her hands over Ninja's legs and checking him over quickly before tacking him up she wanted to make sure he had come to no harm.

" In horse racing it is quite natural for horses to run and over the years they have been bred for distance and so on but naturally the horse wouldn't run those sort of distances if left to their own devices nor would they be carrying a rider on their back who whips them. Also race horses are expected to do the work of a full grown mature horse before they are even officially a year old, which means the horse's bones aren't as strong as they could be once the animal, has matured. Most race horses don't seem to have a problem with that but some do develop problems with their legs or hooves." She explained, " Natural means just that the horse is not expected to do something he would NOT normally do of his own accord."

Leo watched as she began to tack the horse up " So what do you plan on doing with him?"

" Truthfully I'm hoping to enter Ninja in the next Olympics. We have been training for some time together and working towards it. We are both at the Grand Prix level which is the highest level of dressage."

 " Dressage is an Olympic Event I don't think I've ever heard of it" Leo muttered he usually liked to watch the various Olympic events that came on T.V.

" They don't give a lot of exposure to dressage in America. Over in Europe dressage is very popular so they would probably show more of it then over here. Once in awhile they show a clip of dressage or a little of the cross country course which is run during the three day event."

" Three day event?"

 " In the Olympics the three day event is a grueling match for horse and rider which consist of one day doing the rigors of dressage, one day of show ring jumping and one day of cross country jumping. It requires stamina and endurance as both the horse and rider can be fairly tired after the first two days and then to finish the cross country course in the time allowed is fairly hard and demanding."

Jessica swung up on the horse and instructed Leo on how to mount Ninja sidestepped soon as he felt Leo's extra weight settled onto his back.

" Try not to move around too much Leo you might throw him off balance. Just sit still and go with his movements," she informed him

" So his real name is Ninjinsky? It's no wonder you call him Ninja" Leo couldn't help teasing her a bit.

" Actually his full name is Ninjinsky's Shadow Warrior. His mother or dam was a Thourghbred named Ninjinsky and his father or Sire was a Friesian stallion. His breeder named him and it was my brother's who first started calling him Ninja."

Leo chuckled he kept his arms around Jessica's waist holding lightly but even so he could now detect the slight moves of her legs as they tightened or released the slight shifts of her weight and position. He realized this was how she must guide her horse yet he knew that it was hardly detectable from the ground.

He could feel the muscles of the horse under him as the animal responded to his owner's touch. Leo relaxed going with the fluid easy motion as he talked with Jessica.

He got Jessica to drop him off about a mile from the farm it was bad enough to come limping home the last thing he needed was for his brothers to see him being rescued by a girl.

Leo watched the horse and rider until they vanished into the gathering darkness of the night before turning and sneaking back to the farm. He snuck into the old farmhouse and listened carefully hearing none of the others around he breathed out with relief.

He made a poultice and bandaged his foot up after he had assured himself that nothing was broken it was just badly bruised and swollen. He then hobbled up the stairs to his bedroom for the rest of the night.

Leo found himself thinking about Jessica. Her drive and dedication to the sport she had chosen to participate in were clear enough and Leo admired that sort of drive after all he himself was very dedicated to the art of ninjitsu. So it made it easy to appreciate that sort of drive in someone else when he saw it.

He was also amazed to know that dressage had once been used in war though he couldn't see how the horse trained to do such steps would be of any use to a soldier.

It was obvious that the training Jessica and Ninja had done so far had taken years to learn. Leo smiled as he decided that somehow someway he was going to see Ninja and Jessica again before he left for while he wasn't much of a horse person he was interested in the sport of dressage.

TBC


	3. Part Three

                         The Disciplines Of War

Disclaimer: I deny any ownership of any adolescent transformed shadow warrior chelonians.

Horselover- I'm glad you're enjoying this. I don't know how many more chapters I will have of this story but I do intend to keep mixing dressage with turtles throughout.

Neosun7- I figured I would have to explain dressage a little bit due to the fact it is such a little known sport in spite of the many years it has been around. I wanted readers unfamiliar with dressage to have a bit of an idea what it is and what it is good for. Another way of looking at it is that it is gymnastics for horses.

Thanks all for your reviews.

Part Three

When the others caught sight of Leo limping the next morning Leo had an excuse ready for them not willing to admit the truth to them yet because he knew that would only leave him more open to ribbing from them. He wasn't about to give his brothers any more opportunity to bother him then what they had all ready.

By evening his foot all though still tender and sore wasn't as bad as it had been and Leo felt very much like getting out of the house. He found himself making his way back towards the meadow.

When he arrived he stayed in the shadows of the trees until he could be sure that it was safe. The only people he saw in the meadow were Jessica and Ninja going over some of the various jumps. 

Leo felt himself relax realizing as he did so how much he had expected seeing both Ninja and Jessica here again. He knew that it wasn't so much the horse or the rider that particularly had got his interest.

Mike would enjoy Ninja and probably be willing to make friends with Jessica too simply because Mike enjoyed animals of all types and enjoyed being around people as well. 

For Leo it was the discipline the effort and patience that was involved to reach a level of any given sport.

After all Jessica had mentioned that the Grand Prix level was the highest in dressage and so conceivably there had to be levels under it as well which might hold the foundation of the later lessons. So one had to pass through all the levels of training to achieve that pinnacle point.

Martial Arts often had belts to denote the level of training the student had achieved but no student could achieve a black belt instantly on first starting similarly there had to be a starting point in dressage if Grand Prix was the top.

There were similarities but there were differences as well after all not every sport insisted that you work in conjunction with a partner.

The horse was a totally different partner to deal with being as it was an animal it could not reason, think or even communicate with it's human partner so it was up to his rider to determine what might be bothering the horse when his performance was lack luster.

Jessica brought Ninja over to where Leo was sitting in the grass the horse lowered his neck snuffing loudly " How is your foot today Leo?"

" It is a little sore not too bad. It could have been worse I guess if he really wanted to stomp on me. I was sort of hoping that I would catch you here I wanted to see if you would be able to tell me more about dressage, the training you do with him and that sort of thing."

 " You really want to know? I could probably bore you to death with what I know" Jessica insisted.

" I would like to know more. I mean it is different and it is a sport that I assume takes a great deal of training and time to learn."

" That is true enough I started learning dressage when I was age nine and I'm almost seventeen and I have spent a lot of time with instructors, reading watching videos and practicing over the years since then. Ninja here was bought off his original owner she had him trained but then got cancer and she felt with therapy and all that she couldn't keep up the work he needed to maintain him so he was sold and I lucked out.

As for dressage well horses can be lazy brutes they don't want to work if they can avoid it and dressage requires that they work. Sometimes the horse will get down right upset if you do too much of it they need time to relax and unwind and you can't expect them to perform on such a basis all the time so I give Ninja breaks from work by going on trail rides and by jumping or giving him a day off now and again. Today is one of Ninja's more relaxing days to unwind from the rigors of school work."

" In other words you aren't doing dressage today huh?" Leo found he was disappointed to hear that because he wanted to see more of it done. Jumping held no real interest for him.

" Well we can do a little work for you the early schooling so to speak. Transitions, circles and that sort of thing won't hurt him I just won't ask for the more demanding work like piaffe or passage."

" What are those?"

" Besides being French um the easiest way to explain it is the piaffe is a trot on the spot. Passage is also known as the swimming trot because the horse looks like it is swimming on land the leg movement is more elevated." Jessica answered.

 She turned Ninja and started to put him through some of his basic moves explaining some of the early exercises to relax the horse and make it supple as well as taking time to instruct Leo on some of the terminology used in dressage.

" Impulsion is essential if you have no impulsion then you don't have dressage. Impulsion is the energy that comes from the horse thrusting forward from the hind end. Transitions are the changes in pace caused from moving from one gait to another such as walk to canter or canter down to trot. When doing a transition the horse should not lose the impulsion or the rhythm or beat of the foot falls on the ground."

" Well the horse has four feet and as each one falls that would be a beat right?"  
 " Not always Leo a walk is four beat because each hoof is raised and lowered at a separate time but a trot is two beat because you have one hind leg and one front leg rising and falling simultaneously. The canter has three beats and a moment of suspension when all four feet are off the ground. The gallop is an all out run but we don't gallop in dressage."

Leo shook his head confused Jessica laughed at him as if she was reading his mind and told him " If you think you are confused NOW in dressage we have three different versions of each gait that is used. We have the working, the collected and the extended walk trot and canter.

Working means the normal pace stride etcetera of the animal in that gait. Collected means you shorten the stride while maintaining the impulsion and rhythm of the beat. The horse's neck when collected is always arched so the poll of the neck is the highest point. It covers less ground then working but the legs lift higher up. Think of it as a coiled spring pressed between your fingers.

Extended means you want a longer stride then what is found in working. The horse still moves forward but his head and neck are lower down and he covers more ground. It is the spring being stretched out.

Here I'll put Ninja through some of them and see if you can guess when he is doing what."

Leo found it was fairly easy to determine the working from the collected and the extension from the others as well. Jessica's explanation and definition plus his own observational skills helped in determining which one she performed.

She brought Ninja to a halt again and let him lower his head to eat the grass.

" You said the other day that these maneuvers were used originally as war tactics but I don't see how. Katas in martial arts is simply fighting the invisible foe but I can't see the foe or how it could be used," Leo admitted.

" The early exercises were developed to make the horse responsive to his rider. Dressage helps enable horse and rider to become one to act as one unit instead of two separate units each with their own agenda. The mounted soldiers needed the horse to respond to them instantly in battle so dressage was a way of training the mounts to stay flexible enough they could turn around fast when asked to do so.

Two track work or any of the movements that require the horse to move sideways as well as forward was used on the battlefield. The sideways movement was done so the horse would step on anyone near him while crossing the battle zone. Many soldiers would play dead only to use a sword to cause severe damage to a horse's soft belly stomping on the fallen decreased the chances of such problems." Jessica informed Leo.

" Knowing how soar my own foot is and knowing he didn't even use his full weight to come down on it I can see now how being stomped on by a horse could deter such an action.

I suppose the horse also gave an added advantage in battle because the rider would be higher up then foot soldiers and would come to less harm" Leo essayed.

" Exactly not only that but if a soldier was mounted and faced a life or death situation if he was lucky he could bring his horse around to take the blow for him sure he would sacrifice his horse but it meant he could fight on from the ground." Jessica agreed.

Leo considered that option for a moment and recognized the tactical merits of such a move. He was starting to see now how dressage came from war games on horseback.

A horse would have to trust it's rider enough to not show fear of the sounds of battle going on around it, to not be effected by the smell of the blood or any number of things which could cause fear in an animal under such circumstances. Fear Leo knew from experience could make an animal or person less willing to respond to action leading to injury or death in battle.

" It makes a lot of sense," Leo admitted.

 " Some horses in the old days even helped by fighting in the battles by performing special moves that they were trained for. Now a days about the only way you will see these moves is if you're lucky enough to see the Lipizzan stallions perform in the Spanish riding school of Vienna. The Lipizzans are the only known horses that still perform the airs above the ground.

A lot of the 'airs' they perform start with the piaffe, then the levade.

Now Leo imagine you are a foot soldier on the battle field you are marching towards a string of mounted soldiers as you draw near the horses seem to rear up on hind legs and then they literally jump while still on hind legs straight towards you doing five or six jumps before coming down on front legs."

" Now you are trying to pull my leg. There is no possible way an animal the size of a horse could actually jump on hind legs!" An exasperated Leo claimed.

" They CAN Leo. Or at least the lippizaners are capable of it." Jessica defended her position sounding very sure of her facts.

" Then it CAN'T be natural and you told me dressage was natural to the horse so which is it?" Leo accused crossing his arms over his plastron.

" It is natural Leo. We breed horses on our farm and I've seen some foals only a few days old perform the 'airs' when they go out in the field to play. It is just that most people aren't aware that they are able to do this with some horses so they don't keep them flexible and supple. They train them for other things and that natural talent is buried over time by other things.

The Lippizaner foals are watched from early on and ONLY the ones who show an affinity for a certain 'air' are trained for it. The Spanish Riding School NEVER makes a horse perform the 'air' unless they know he has been doing it naturally. They make notes of which horse performs which air and when the horse matures and is trained he is taught to perform the air on command" Jessica replied smugly, " I have pictures at home in some of my dressage books that show the lippizaners performing the airs."

" I think I would have to see those to believe it" Leo replied skeptically.

 " Okay I can bring the books next time I come. The record for the courbette jumps is fourteen jumps by one stallion though normally they do between three and eight.

In another of the 'airs' the capriole the horse jumps off the ground so his body is horizontal to the ground and then kicks out with one hind leg. This move is the most difficult of the airs to perform but it was used to kick advancing foot soldiers who were coming up from behind, in the head."

Leo arched an eye ridge he knew how difficult it was to kick anyone in the head but to train a horse to do ALMOST the very same thing?

He still had this odd feeling that Jessica was teasing him because he didn't know her all that well and he was pretty sure it was impossible for a horse to perform such a feat to begin with.

" As for the foundation of those moves the levade and pesade they were used on the battle field for one THING only and almost any horse can perform the pesade and the levade. Ninja here is trained to do them.

The moves originated so if a rider saw a cannonball coming his way he could get the horse up and the cannonball would hit the horse in the chest.

In the pesade the hocks must be at about a forty five degree angle to the ground and the hocks are here on the back legs" Jessica used her whip to point out the hocks to Leo " then the horses body is brought up off the ground until it's body is at a forty five degree angle to the ground itself.

In the levade everything stays the same except for the level of the horse's body in relation to the ground. For the levade you must maintain a thirty-five degree angle.

Any time the hocks are not kept low or the horse rises above the forty five degree mark then it is no longer classical riding it is a rear. Horses love to rear it's not work.

That is why this stuff shouldn't be trained until the horse is at a good level of obedience in dressage. Try to teach him before that point how to levade and he will rear and learn he can avoid work by doing so.

Horses have great memories you don't want to teach them to avoid work."

Leo had to wonder at the amount of training and control it took to get a horse to rise on its hind legs at such an angle and then maintain that position.

If what Jessica had told him was true then the horse itself could be used as a weapon in battle there by increasing the rider's odds of survival and taking the horse from a small advantage on the field to a strategic force to be used against the enemy.

TBC

Author's Note: There is a group of Lippizan horses that do tour parts of Canada and the United States. These performers do NOT perform a lot of the moves correctly. They have NEVER once, in the times I have seen them, performed any of the Airs above the ground correctly.

If you know nothing about dressage it is beautiful to watch and see but I know too much about dressage and all I see is the numerous mistakes they make.

The Spanish Riding School would NEVER allow such mistakes in their performances they do it correctly.


	4. Part Four

                          Disciplines Of War

Disclaimer: I deny any ownership of any adolescent transformed shadow warrior chelonians.

Part Four

Leo entered the meadow and saw Jessica waiting for him, he also noted the different horse that she was tying up near by with a long rope it was Ninja's day off and she had told him that if he wanted to meet her today she'd bring some books on dressage including the ones with the photos of the airs.

Leo had agreed feeling it was time for Jessica to either show the proof of such a thing or stop telling him it was possible one of the two.

Her riding hat was off and her dark brunette hair was up in a ponytail and instead of the riding pants, blouse and high black riding boots she was in jeans and a t-shirt and a smaller boot.

Leo strode over glancing at the brown horse with a large white patch on its rump and tiny brown spots freckled within the white area.

" So who is this?"

 " This is Dancer he knows dressage to medium class two he's a gelding and an Appy."

 " Appy as in appetizer?"

 " No Appaloosa" Jessica corrected gently " A breed of horse. Now here in Alois Podhajsky's book The Complete Training of Horse and Rider there are the photos of the Lipizzaners doing the airs. Alois was director of the Spanish riding school for some years and he was also an Olympic medal winner. In fact he was the director during world war two and during that time the mares and foals were in danger of falling into enemy hands and Alois was able to enlist the help of General Patton to retrieve the mares and bring them back home so the breed would not die out as it was feared would happen."

Leo listened but his eyes were busy taking in every detail of the pictures depicting the airs both with riders and without them. So Jessica hadn't been fooling him after all.

" What is this book here?" he pointed to one of the other ones.

 " Well this is a reproduction of one of the oldest book you will probably ever find on horsemanship inside it mentions other books and what other people have said but those books didn't last through the years as Xenophon's book did.

Xenophon was a Greek who lived back around 400 B.C. and a lot of what he says about horses and the training of them is still used by dressage riders today. He even describes a passage in that book which goes to show how long these art has lasted for though I'm sure for Xenophon it was more for war purposes then art. He even recognized that horses were beings in their own right with feelings and nerves and all the sort of things that make us beings."

Intrigued Leo picked up the book and flipped through it noting different parts were highlighted and he stopped to read some of them.

Force will never produce any thing beautiful.

Don't overdo too much of ANYTHING is not good for horse or rider.

After a successful exercise dismount and lead your horse back.

Correct training makes horses more beautiful.

Young horses should be trained in such a way that they not only love their riders but look forward to the time with them.

The horse must make the most graceful appearance of his own free will. We teach him what we want him to do. ( A/N Quotes here are taken from Alois Podhajsky's book Complete Training of Horse and Rider and from Franz Maringer's Horses are Made to be Horses. Xenophon's book I do not own though my instructor owned it and I read it years ago very interesting. I believe it is called The Art of Horsemanship but I might be mistaken as it has been awhile.)

" So in essence he is the founder of dressage" Leo summarized.

 " Sort of but almost all horse people can benefit from what he says though they might not agree with everything he says like the part about getting a horse to jump something that he refuses to jump Xenophon says you should dismount and show him the way and he is to follow after."

Leo laughed " You can lead a horse to a jump but can you make him leap? Talk about needing leadership skills."

Jessica chuckled " Yeah well years after Xenophon many horse masters believed the only way to get a horse to do these things was through brute force. They didn't seem to understand that if a dancer is to dance beautifully then you could not beat them with a rod or shove long spikes up their feet. Brutality will never make any thing beautiful."

Leo nodded he was all too aware of that fact. He had seen it countless times before the aftermath of brute force and violence on others. It wasn't what he wanted to think of at the moment.

" So do you know how often the U.S has won gold in dressage at the Olympics?"

" Well not really and besides for the equestrian events you can either do it individually or as part of a team. I do know that combined individual and team for three day events and dressage between the years of 1932 to 1992 the Olympics were held about ten times and the U.S won six gold, eight silver and seven bronze medals. I also know that the year the Olympics were held in Montreal, during those years the U.S brought home both gold and silver for individual three day event." ( A/N : I did a quick search on the Internet for previous Olympic medal winners for dressage and found a site that listed what years and medals each country had won. As it wasn't a thorough search there maybe some error on my part here this was more to give a general idea then anything else. As for the next part I make NO excuses for and I know the facts are true and I just have to put this in because I am Canadian and from British Columbia and I am proud of our Dressage team.) Jessica took a breath and continued, " As for the recent Pan Am Games Team U.S was hard pressed in dressage but we did win the gold while the Canadians took silver. In individual dressage however a Canadian rider from British Columbia won gold." ( thank you Leslie Reid our gold medal winner). 

Leo arched an eye ridge giving Jessica an amused look " You haven't studied this at ALL have you?" he teased.

" Oh not in the least. It is of no interest to me what so ever" she admitted jokingly.

 " Yeah I've noticed" Leo chuckled.

 " Hey Leo can I ask you something personal?"

 Leo considered her question before answering " Ask me and then I will tell you if I am free to answer it or not" He finally replied cautiously.

" Well I have told you before about my brothers and their taste in movies. In the movies though the ninjas all have smaller weapons as well as their other weapons. I know you have your swords but I was just wondering if you carried other things with you too." Jessica explained hesitantly she had never paid much attention to those movies but now after meeting Leo she had been paying closer attention to the ninja stuff at any rate.

" Ninjas traditionally carry all sorts of weapons or items that they might need on them in hidden pockets or as part of their disguise. 

Smaller weapons, potions and powders, bits of rope climbing claws each ninja would decide what they needed and would take it. I carry smaller weapons in my belt pouches like the shuriken or throwing star." Leo replied as he fished out a shuriken to show to Jessica.

 Jessica inspected the small weapon closely resting her finger lightly against one sharp point " I can see how these could hurt you if they hit you."

" Oh they do that all right especially when they dig into a real fleshy part of your body. I ought to know considering we fight another clan of ninja back home in New York."

 Jessica turned to look at Leo " There is a clan of ninja in New York?" she asked skeptically.

" Yes there is, they act in secret and very few citizens are aware that they even exist but they are very much into crimes and causing trouble of all sorts and we are the only ones who seem aware of their activities." Leo explained.

" We? Who are we? You and the fellow who raised you?" Jessica pounced on the words.

Leo smiled " I haven't been fully honest with you Jessica but that was because at first I wasn't sure how much I could trust you with. It is highly imperative that those who know about us keep our secret. We do have a few human friends but we must be careful of who we invite to be our friends for we can imperil their lives and if they are not trust worthy they could endanger ours.

Our two closest friends are April O'Neil and Casey Jones it is their place we are staying at out here.

I have three brothers. Mike is the goof, Don is our resident genius and Raph he is the irritant of the family." He watched Jessica still handling the shuriken but her eyes were on him and she was attentive. " Do you want to learn how to throw that? I could teach you if you like."

" Really? That would be neat Leo. Don't worry I won't tell anyone about you or your family I don't think any one would believe me any ways but I promise your secret is safe with me."

Leo smiled " I all ready knew that Jessica or I wouldn't have told you in the first place. All right you have been teaching me about dressage lets see how well you can throw a shuriken. We'll keep it away from your friend there so he doesn't spook." Leo began picking himself up from out of the meadow grass his eyes scanning for a likely practice spot.

He knew by now that Jessica was safe at least with a certain amount of information.

TBC


	5. Part Five

                                Disciplines Of War

Disclaimer: I deny any ownership of any adolescent transformed shadow warrior chelonians.

Author's Note: Thanks to all for your reviews it is greatly appreciated. 

Part Five

Raph watched Leo leave and he wondered vaguely what Leo was up to what had Leo found that was so interesting to him? Something had to of gotten under Leo's shell that was for sure because since they had arrived at the farm Leo had been acting very unLeo like.

First off Leo was spending A LOT of time off by himself and Raph was pretty sure he wasn't spending ALL of that time in meditation.

Secondly and this was really strange for Leo at any rate, was Leo wasn't pestering his brothers to get in some extra practice.

Not that Raph really minded that part in the least. After all Leo could be more of a slave driver then Splinter and his over bearing need for perfection drove Raph to insanity.

No something had to be going on but knowing Leo it couldn't be anything too bad he was the perfect son after all and Leo wouldn't do any thing to tarnish his golden perfect image. Or Would he? Raph gave a wicked grin at that thought then dismissed it.

They had come here to relax after all and may be just this once Leo was actually going allow them to enjoy their time off…and just who am I trying to kid? Who would ever believe that Leo would let them rest and enjoy their vacation?

" The world must be coming to an end," Raph muttered to himself as he went off in search of his other brothers.

He found Don and Mike in the living room of the old farm house Don was fiddling with his lap top and mike was flipping through channels " Anyone know where Leo disappeared to?"

" I think he went for an exercise run Mike. Can you guys actually believe him? He's letting us rest for a change." Raph grinned.

" You two haven't fought since we got here," Mike noted suddenly.

 " It's easy to do when he isn't around so much nagging me about all my faults" Raph quipped.

Don scowled " Some thing just doesn't seem right though. I mean he looks fine but he isn't acting normal for Leo not that I don't enjoy the chance to catch up on my own stuff."

" Brothers I think it is time to find out what our great leader has been up to that has changed him so. Let's check his room" Raph declared.

" Raph that happens to be an invasion of privacy" Don snapped.

 " Aw, Donny it isn't like we haven't done this before" Mike cut in.

 " You guys might have I NEVER" Don insisted.

 " Suit yourself then Don" Raph gave an indifferent shrug as he turned to head up the stairs followed closely by Mike. 

Don hesitated only for a second or two before following his brothers up the stairs and as they entered the room Leo slept in Don lingered in the door way.

Raph found a videotape " Ninja's kurr. Either of you know what a kurr is? I don't recall Splinter mentioning kurrs and besides this isn't his writing or any of our writing on here."

 " I don't think so. I have never heard of a kurr at any rate" Don muttered.

 Mike opened a drawer on the night table " Hey guys there is a book in here about horses. Why would Leo be reading about horses it's not his usual reading material. It is written by a dude called Xenophon and I thought our names were bad" Mike chuckled as he opened the book " There is a name in here Jessica Rannelly and a phone number. 

Leo's got a girlfriend!" Mike couldn't help chanting the last bit out.

" Wait a sec Mike do you know what this means?"

 " Yeah Raph Leo has a girlfriend!"

 " No goof ball! Leo has BEEN SEEN! Leo let someone around here SEE him and…oh, if Splinter only knew!" Raph stated cheerfully.

Mike grinned " We can follow him and take pictures to use on him as black mail. Can you believe it our leader has fallen from grace?"

" Yeah all of his lectures about not letting anyone see you and all that stuff. He is not so perfect after all. I have got to see what is on this tape." Raph announced leaving Leo's room.

They all trooped downstairs and Raph popped the video in and they waited to see what was on the video.

" Next up is Jessica Rannelly performing a free style kurr on Ninjinsky's Shadow Warrior." A voice came over.

 Silence fell and the image showed a ring of sorts and a black horse entering the ring a young female mounted on the horse's back.

They stopped in the center and the girl bowed the horse and rider stood stock still for a moment and then music began to play as the music played the horse began to move.

The horse's footfalls landed perfectly in time with the music and no matter how the music changed the horse kept time.

Raph watched for a few minutes before looking at the others " Anyone get this? I mean this is nothing more then a stupid horse going around in circles and moving sideways and a bunch of nonsense. Why would Leo be interested in this? Or is it just the rider he's keen on?"

 " I think its kind of pretty Raph. Look at him; the horse looks like he is skipping to the music. I think he likes dancing just look at him. He looks pretty light on his feet for such a heavy fellow. It sort of reminds me of figure skating in some ways you know the music the flowing movements in time with the song" Mike stated there was something about that playful horse that Mike could relate to. Maybe it was because the horse seemed so cheerful and playful.

" I guess she call's her horse Ninja for short and this dancing stuff they do is a kurr" Don decided it was nice but didn't interest him.

" BORING! What would Leo want with this stuff? Why did he go and put everything on the line? He's given me long lectures for far less you know." Raph snapped irritated at Leo.

" You would have to ask Leo what it is he sees in this stuff and if you did that then he would know you were snooping in his room if I were you Raph I'd let it drop were going home in a few more days any ways" Don suggested gently.

Mike waited patiently for Leo; he heard his brother slip silently into the old farmhouse avoiding the creaky boards on the porch as his brother closed the door softly behind him Mike switched on the lamp by the couch.

" So where have you been going to Leo that you have to come sneaking in all Ninja like?"

" None of your business Mike" Leo retorted quickly.

  " Uh-huh. I think it is my business. I thought Raph was the antisocial one of the family. How can we ever trust you if you keep secrets from us Leo? Come on come clean and tell the truth" Mike teased.

 " What secret?" Leo responded.

 " The one you are trying to keep from us. You are trying to hide things from us Leo and you know it" Mike declared quickly then started to hum the music he heard from off the video.

" If I tell you Mike you have to promise NOT to tell the others."

 " OOOH! Leo is going tell me his juicy secret. I'm listening" Mike sat up on the sofa looking at Leo expectantly.

" First you have to promise me or I won't tell you a single thing," Leo threatened.

 " All right I promise I won't tell." Mike allowed.

 " I met a girl and a horse that she rides. The horse's name is Ninja and he broke away from Jessica and I caught him for her but when I went to disappear before she could see me Ninja sort of pushed me out in the open.

I didn't intend for her to see me, or anything like that but once it happened there wasn't a lot I could do about it.

Any ways I found out that Jessica practices a sport called dressage and I sort have been learning a bit about it from her. She must be getting more comfortable with me too because she is starting to ask me stuff about our training.

There are quite a few similarities between what she does and what we do and I guess when I learned dressage was originally meant for in battle it made me want to learn why and how and all the things that go with it.

The more I learn the more similarities I can see. 

We are both trained in disciplines of war its just different aspects of war games." Leo admitted.

" So that is why you are seeing her because of her connection to war games. Tactical warfare and all that."

 " Well it isn't just that Mike. Though it was originally why I was interested. Splinter has tried to teach us to enjoy other things like music and art and… It is just beautiful watching what she can do with her horse. It almost like a meditation relaxing, calming, peaceful to watch."

 " Can I come see it Leo? PLEASE!" Mike begged, " She already knows about us so what is the difference?"

 " Why is it that important Mike?" Leo wondered what his brothers reasoning were.

 " I like animals and I want to see him dance for real," Mike blurted out.

" Wait how did you know…"

 " A lucky guess Leo" Mike responded quickly giving one of his amiable innocent disarming grins that got him out of so much trouble.

" That and snooping through my room again" Leo muttered heaving a long suffering sigh " All right I'll let you come for one reason if I don't allow you to come you will just end up following me any ways then again you could probably use the work in Ninja stealth" he decided in a resigned way.

" Thanks Leo I knew you'd see it my way" Mike crowed before heading up stairs to bed.

TBC


	6. Part Six

               Disciplines Of War

Disclaimer: I deny any ownership of any adolescent transformed shadow warrior chelonians.

Author's Note: This was just meant as a short story so this is the last chapter for those of you interested in learning more about dressage there is always your local library and the internet between the two you ought to find something. Thanks for all the reviews they were greatly appreciated. Ramica.

Part Six

Leo and Mike entered the meadow Mike whistled as he caught sight of Jessica riding the black horse.

" Impressive Leo and the horse ain't bad looking either."

" Behave yourself Mike" Leo scolded his brother gently " Hi Jessica this here is my brother Mike he wanted to come and see you do some dressage."

Jessica had overheard Mike's playful comment and was laughing at it " Oh he does, does he? Anything special you wanted to see Mike?"

" Yeah I want to see him skip" Mike grinned.

 Jessica gave him a perplexed look " Skip?"

" You did it in the kurr video" Mike told her very sure of himself on that part.

" Wait I…Oh I think I know what you mean now. The flying change performed at every stride. Here I'll demonstrate it and you tell me if that is what you are talking about." Jessica urged Ninja into a canter the horse leading off with his left leg after a few strides he suddenly started switching his front legs back and forth making it seem as if he was skipping along.

" That's it" Mike yelled.

Jessica swung Ninja back towards them and piaffed in front of the two ninja turtles " That my friends is a flying change called that because when in the canter you ask the horse to switch the leg he leads with during the moment of suspension and the rider can decide at how many strides to go before switching they can do it every stride up to every six or eight stride switch.

Now Ninja and I will put on a little performance for you both." Jessica moved Ninja off.

Mike couldn't tear his eyes off the horse and the rider " He looks so happy to be doing that stuff" he chortled, " I bet he is real fun to ride."

Jessica caught Mike subtle hint " That he is but I can't let you ride him on your own. He is highly trained after all and if you know nothing of riding you could wreck his training very quickly by doing the wrong thing."  
 " Oh" Mike sighed looking suddenly crestfallen he hadn't realized that he might damage the horse.

" However I can let you ride him if you want to sit behind me that way I'm still in control and Ninja won't be confused by someone who is inexperienced after all I have given Leo a few rides but he doesn't seem too keen on it."

" I much prefer watching it from the ground. Riding horseback is hard on the shell," Leo muttered in reply.

Mike wasn't about to let Jessica go back on that offer hardly had she said the words and Mike was ready to jump on Ninja's back. Jessica waited until he was settled before putting Ninja through a few transitions and then going from passage into piaffe before going off over a few of the jumps before steering him back toward Leo and halting.

Mike slid off and stroked the sleek soft neck, while Ninja dropped his head over Mike's shoulder.

Leo made a low snorting noise as he shook his head trust Mike to make friends with the horse. He recalled a little grudgingly about all the trouble he had with Ninja his first time.

Then again Mike did have a certain way with animals they all seemed to trust him.

As if Mike knew what he was thinking he turned and smiled at his brother " Leo you might enjoy it only for the war movements it once was and the art that it has become. You relate it to what we do but for me I think it is just plain beautiful for what it is alone.

I mean Jessica is taking this huge powerful animal and making him dance in such a way that it can take your breath away. It's poetry it's beauty alone." Mike seemed to consider for a moment then spoke " Let this cavalcade of grace now stand.

He speaks in silence

His story is legend

Where in this world can man find

Nobility without pride

Friendship without envy

Beauty without vanity.

Here where grace is laced with muscle 

And strength by gentleness confined.

He has served without servility

Fought without enmity.

There is nothing so powerful

Nothing less violent

Nothing so quick

Nothing so patient.

The hope of a nation

Has been born on his back

Our success is his industry 

We are his heirs

He our inheritance. (A/N this part comes from a video I own called Big Ben a Glance at Greatness. For those who don't know Big Ben he was a Canadian show jumping horse owned by Ian Miller. Ben won over 40 grand prix show jumping events, over 1.5 Million dollars in winnings. Won gold in the Pan Am Games in 1987 and the only horse to compete in three separate Olympic games. This is only some of his impressive record. This great Equine athlete died in 1999. I thought the poem was appropriate for any equine athlete but it really suited Ben.)

" Where did you learn that Mike?"

" I don't know I think I read it somewhere" Mike gave an indifferent shrug looking slightly embarrassed.

Leo smiled at Jessica " I was wondering with the kurrs do you just go out and do whatever you want with them?"

" I wish it was that easy Leo it takes a lot of work for something that only last a few minutes in the ring.

First you have to pick the music that suits your horse because the hoof beats should be in time with the music. Then you need to do the choreography and planning I start trot here when I reach this point I must be ready to do shoulder in to this point and so on. Every move the horse does has to be plotted ahead and then you practice until it looks effortless.

It is suppose to look like it was just done with ease all impulse and fun but a lot of planning has to go into it first. 

Kurrs are hard work but I enjoy them."

Mike chuckled " In Leo speak a kurr is an involved kata then."

" Don't make me regret bringing you here Mike" Leo replied a little testily.

Jessica tried to hide her smile because Leo sounded like she sometimes did around her younger brothers.

" Jessica I hate to say this but we have to go home tomorrow something came up and we are leaving earlier then planned on so we won't see you here for probably a long time" Leo explained grimacing slightly.

Jessica was stunned to hear the news she had sort of liked Leo and visiting with him and now coming to the meadow knowing Leo wouldn't be there would just feel so strange to her.

" I'm glad I brought this for you then Leo" she reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a picture of her and Ninja doing the levade and a blue ribbon. " Keep these as mementos of the two of us." She offered them to Leo fighting back tears as she did so.

" Thanks. Jessica if I give you an address where you can reach us will you write to me and let me know where you and him are in reaching your goals and how you're doing. I promise I'll write back."

" Sure Leo I'd like that" Jessica smiled at least she wasn't going be losing all contact with her new friend.

" This is a friends address but she will see to it that I get the mail" Leo hastily wrote April's address down on some paper " Here take this with you maybe it will bring Ninja luck." He passed her a shuriken.

" Thanks Leo" Jessica suddenly leaned down and gave Leo a quick kiss on the cheek.

" Hey where's mine?" Mike demanded.

 Jessica nudged Ninja over towards Mike " Kiss Ninja"

" I'm not kissing a horse!" Mike protested.

Ninja however reached out and lipped at Mike's cheek.

Mike sputtered, " After seeing you two perform I know you are going get gold" he confirmed.

Leo sighed wistfully and a little regretfully " Come on Mike we better get back there is still things we have to care for tonight. Good by Jessica take care of yourself and best of luck to both of you."

" By Leo" Jessica watched the two Ninja turtles depart vanishing quickly into the shadows of the trees.

Leo paused for a moment the farm and it's surroundings had always been special to them he had found something more there and now he was loathed to leave it behind.

He looked back into the meadow and thought he saw a black silhouette, against the setting sun, the image of horse and rider in a perfect levade as if to salute their fellow warriors on the battlefield.

Leo felt a sudden spark of hope at that brief fleeting image and he knew he'd never forget the Ninja he met here.

The End.


End file.
